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[This edited version of the report has been prepared by Dr Robert N Moles]

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On 20 November 2007 BBC News reported "Fourth arrest over student murder"

A fourth person has been arrested in connection with the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Italy. Police arrested 21-year-old Rudy Hermann Guede, who is a national of Ivory Coast, in western Germany. He faces charges over the murder and sexual assault on 1 November of Miss Kercher, 21, of Coulsdon, London, who was found with her throat cut.

Two other men and an American woman who was Miss Kercher's roommate are also being held. They deny any involvement.

Popular with students

Officials said Mr Guede had been arrested in the western German city of Mainz by Interpol on an international warrant. Police identified him as a suspect on Monday. They believe he left the central Italian city of Perugia, where the murder happened, for Milan, before travelling to Germany.

Bloody fingerprints found on Miss Kercher's pillow and on toilet paper in her bathroom are reported to match those of Mr Guede. Local reports said he had been adopted by a family living in Perugia who had since cut ties with him.

The Ansa news agency also said he had played for a basketball team in Perugia, and been popular with foreign students in the town.

Charges denied

Two other men and a woman are being held over the murder of the Leeds University student, whose body was found in her bedroom in a pool of blood. Amanda Marie Knox, 20, her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 23, and a Congolese bar owner, Diya "Patrick" Lumumba, 38, all deny involvement in the murder of Miss Kercher.

They are all being held in custody in Italy, and under Italian law, they can be held for up to a year. Police do not believe the murder was premeditated, but they allege each of the suspects played a role. Prosecutors believe Miss Kercher was killed after refusing to take part in an extreme sex game.

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